Camino Por Amor
by Strawberry Shortcake123
Summary: Tag to 8x24, Pyramid. EJ observes Tony worrying about Ziva and comes to some realizations. Implied Tony/Ziva, EJ/OC. Oneshot.


**Am I the only one who was really disappointed in Pyramid? There was almost no Tiva- just the scene this story is based on- and I thought that the episode overall was anticlimactic. I mean, it was good… it's just that it could have been a lot better.**

**Oh, and also… I know that EJ said she might stick around DC when she left NCIS, but… pretend she didn't say that, okay? I guess this is slightly AU because of that. But not terribly.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of the characters in this story. Except for Diego.**

"Ziva," came the voice of Ray Cruz from her desk phone. The three agents occupying the bullpen, DiNozzo, McGee and Barrett, stopped what they were doing and listened. "I just got your messages. I'm on my way to NCIS right now. See you soon."

"EJ," Tony said, standing up from his chair, "isn't Ziva going to meet CI-Ray right now?"

EJ covered her mouth with her hand, then dropped it into her lap. "Yes. She left about half an hour ago."

Tony cursed under his breath and went over to Ziva's desk, picked up her phone and pressed the "call back" button. EJ watched him, noting the tightening in his jaw, the nervous drumming of his fingers on the desk.

"Ray," he said into the phone, all business. "Tony DiNozzo. We- yeah. Ziva's on her way to meet you at your hotel. You what? No. No, don't go there, come here." He slammed the phone back on the rocker and rubbed his forehead.

"What's wrong?" EJ asked, almost cautiously, because this ultra-stressed out side of Tony was one she had not experienced before. Her partner in Rota, Diego, was often tense around her- mostly because it made him nervous when she charged off on her own to catch a suspect. Ziva, she thought wryly, seemed to have the same effect on Tony that EJ had on Diego.

"He hasn't checked into the hotel yet."

"So Ziva…" McGee began, but let his voice trail off.

"Was tricked. Probably by our corn on the Cobb." He snapped open his cell phone and dialed 2 for Gibbs, and then started talking a mile a minute.

EJ, taken aback by Tony's actions, looked over at McGee. The other agent was watching Tony with a knowing look on his face, shaking his head slightly. She looked back at Tony just in time to see him toss his cell phone onto his desk and wondered what, exactly, she wasn't understanding.

0000000000

EJ stands with the others at the crime scene, trying to focus on what she's supposed to be doing but failing. Instead, she watches Tony, whose every movement is jerky and violent.

"How could she just walk out of here and nobody notices?" He glares down at his backpack as he zips it shut.

She steps over to him and speaks in a low voice, attempting to comfort him, as he had done for her. "Tony."

"Sorry."

"We're all worried about Ziva."

And they are; even EJ is. The events of the past twenty-four hours seem to have pushed aside the contempt the two women held for each other and replaced it with mutual respect. EJ opens her mouth to continue, but before she can speak, Tony says, "I know. It's just different for some of us."

And the look on his face… it reminds her so much of Diego, she is momentarily left speechless. EJ stares at him, her eyebrows knitting together. And then she gets it. Images flash through her mind: looks she had seen Tony and Ziva exchange, the way he would lean close to her while he read her computer screen, the fact that they always knew what the other was thinking. Their true feelings were painfully obvious, but before now, she had subconsciously decided to turn a blind eye to them.

Why, then, had Tony gone out with her? To distract himself? To make Ziva jealous? It doesn't matter. When this case is resolved and everything has calmed down, EJ will end things with Tony.

Because this relationship… she isn't sure what it is for Tony, but for her, it's just something to do. She knows that he loves Ziva and that Ziva loves him, whether they realize it or not. This realization only hurts a little bit, because now her mind is racing ahead, thinking of the man she left in Spain and comparing Tony and Ziva's relationship to her and Diego's.

Was there something between them? People had always asked her if they were dating, and she shrugged their questions off. But now that she is thinking about Tony and Ziva's partnership, she can't help but wonder.

Tomorrow, she decides, she will send Diego an e-mail. And if he responds, she will get on a plane when she can and head back across the Atlantic. If he doesn't respond… well, she thinks she might just go anyway.

Because Erica Jane Barrett is done going after guys who she knows it will never work out with. Guys who know nothing about her other than the fact that she is afraid to love and be loved, and who find comfort in that fact because that is their fear, too. Some of them, like Tony, are good at heart. But if she keeps going on like this, she's never going to get anywhere.

She will find someone to be with. Maybe it's somebody already in her life; maybe it isn't. Whoever it is, she knows that beginning to search in the first place is a step in the right direction.

She will start in Rota.

She will start with Diego.

**Hope you liked. This is my second attempt at an NCIS fanfic. I'm not a fan of EJ, but that's mostly because I am a big Tiva person. So I figure if she has someone who is not Tony, I'll be happy for her.**

**Please review and tell me what you thought. I hope to write more about NCIS, but I'm relatively new to the show and am still figuring out how to write the characters.**

**That is all. : )**


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